Billings Career Center Connect

Hello Career Center Students, Families, and our Industry Partners.

It's been an exceptional start to the school year. September has blown by, and now we find ourselves in the activities of early October. The energy in the building is fantastic! Teaching and learning is present in all of our classrooms as students have settled into their new routines.

September found us in celebration mode, first, Open House gave us the time to celebrate our teachers, students, and families. It was great to see so many new and familiar faces. We hope you enjoyed meeting your student's teachers as well as learning about their classes. We'd love to hear your feedback on Open House, if you have any.

We are now in the midst of Homecoming weeks! Senior and West both celebrated theirs already (Go Bear and Go Broncs!), this week, Skyview is busy with their homecoming activities (Go Falcons!). Now, thanks to the Student Advisory Board, the Career Center will also join in on the celebrations, as we'll be hosting our own spirit week at the end of the month... more on that later.

We also want to take time to celebrate some changes to our staffing. As a brief aside, one of our building goals this year and last is to ensure that we are telling our story, this is a broad goal and can mean many things, for instance, this newsletter. Another example, is working with the AAs during registration to ensure that students know what opportunities exist for them here. The good news, is that we have been successful in telling our story and as a result, we've experienced a large increase in enrollment. With that, came the need for additional staff to help support our teachers and our students. To that end, I'm excited to announce the addition of Deni Oltrogge to our Administration Team.

Learn more about Mrs. Oltrogge in our "Staff Highlight" section below! Each month we'll highlight a different member of our building staff so you can learn more about who we are!

Thank you for all of your continued support of the Career Center! If you have a question, concern, or just want to reach out, you can do so by clicking on the "Ask the Principal" image!

Matt Clouser Principal

Go Career Center, Go Education!

Hello everyone. I’m Deni Oltrogge, and this is my twelfth year at the Billings Career Center. Most of you know that I have taught English in this time as well as dual credit writing and public speaking.

I am from Butte, Montana but came to Billings for my bachelor’s degree to get as far away from Butte as possible while still staying in Montana. I now enjoy bringing my two doodles to visit my parents in Butte. I have a master’s degree in school administration from the University of Montana, and a library endorsement through Montana State University.

Many of you know my husband, Doug, teaches English at Senior High and my oldest step daughter attends West High. My youngest step daughter is in the 7th grade in Huntley. There are Oltrogges everywhere!

I am a passionate advocate for the impact educators can have on their students’ lives and advocate for the teaching of soft skills for the development of our students both personally and professionally. I am here to support students and staff in any way I can, and am so grateful to be your assistant principal. My door will be open; please stop by and see me!

Billings Career Center students and staff have been featured local news twice this month!

First, Katie Meier's EMT students assisted in the City's mass casualty emergency simulation in partnership with first responders, Billings Clinic, and Saint Vincent's Hospital.

Second, Chef Bill Jensen and his class of Cafe Protege students opened up their new learning space and training kitchen!

Articles from KTVQ are linked below!

Congratulations for Katie Meier, Chef Bill, and our fantastic students. Way to go! We are so proud of what you've accomplished!

EMT

Cafe Protege

The Student Advisory Board is the Career Centers student council.

This month, the Student Advisory Board is sponsoring a spirit week. Spirit week is October 28th - November 1st. Spirit day (November 1st) has a spirit shirt, the shirt and sale tab is linked below. Proceeds from shirt sales supports the SAB and future student activities! You can access the store HERE!

Career Center Spirit Days!

10/28: Color Day

• Freshman-Red
• Sophomore-Yellow
• Junior-Green
• Senior-Orange
• Staff-Purple

10/29: Adam Sandler Day

10/30: Teacher/Student Swap

• Teachers dress like students-Students dress like teachers

11/1 Career Center Spirit Day

SAB was also present at 'Saturday Live' volunteering to support the event

We are looking forward to continuing to build our celebrations! We'll be sharing information soon on the holiday parade and other upcoming events!

You can contact the Student Advisory Board via email now. The address is: ccsab@billingsschools.org or by visiting our Facebook or Instagram!

Sept 30th- Oct 11th: College App Week- The Career Center will host College app day in the Library on October 9th. Education Talent Search (ETS) will be in the building to support. FAFSA night will be announced soon.

October 2nd: Custodian Appreciation Day- Thank you Jeremy, Michelle, Donna, Monica, & Darren for all you do!

October 7th: Senior High Picture Day with Lifetouch- Re-takes are 11/7/2024

October 10th: West & Skyview Picture Day with Collective Imaging- Re-takes 11/4/2024

October 16th: AP Registration Opens- Students can sign up at their homeschool or at the Career Center. Cost for registration is $30 per exam. See Lisa Baumberger in Room 42 to sign up or get your questions answered!

November 7th: Employer Connect Night: More information to come.

Meet Our Counselors

Amanda Peitz and Janet Tsiguloff

peitza@billingsschools.org, tsiguloffj@billingsschools.org

College App Week: Sept. 30th - Oct. 11th. The Career Center will host College app day in the Library on October 9th. Education Talent Search (ETS) will be in the building to support. FAFSA night will be announced soon.

ACT/SAT Prep Course: Free!

That's right! We have an ACT/SAT Prep Course available for students free! The attached file will guide you or your student through the registration process. See Janet Tsiguloff for questions!

Billings Career Center

Asst. Principal: Darwin Schaff

Phone: 406.281.5340

Website: https://www.billingsschools.org/our-schools/high-schools/career-center

Location: 3723 Central Ave, Billings, MT, 59102
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBillingsCareerCenter/

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